Carl Frampton wins European super-bantamweight title after stopping Kiko Martinez in ninth round in Belfast

Rising super-bantamweight prospect Carl Frampton stopped power-puncher Kiko
Martinez in the ninth round with a chopping right hand to become European
super-bantamweight champion in Belfast on Saturday night.

In the toughest test of his career to date, Frampton had to weather an advancing storm from the Spaniard in the early rounds, but showed in a close fight that he has the wherewithal to climb the ladder to elite level. In a close fight, Frampton boxed brilliantly in the fourth round. and then, against a champion who never took a backward step, stopped the Spaniard after a brilliant ninth round with 14 seconds remaining.

The protege of Barry McGuigan sailed through the bout with flying colours, moving intelligently and showed that after sixteen fights unbeaten, he is on his way to the elite class, in spite of the occasional lapse when he was caught by hooks from the tough, durable champion.

"He was harder to hit than I thought. He had good movement and hard as nails. The smack talk was just part of the build up, I actually think he's a ice man. It shows I have a solid chin against one of the hardest punchers in the division," said Frampton afterwards. "It would be amazing if me and my rival Scott Quigg could fight some time in the future. It is a fight the fans want to see."

McGuigan added : "Carl showed tonight that he could punch, he could box, he could take a punch and he could go into the trenches. He is a marvellous talent and going right to the top."